Real Estate Agent Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy to Defraud Investors and Lenders

Andrew Brosnac, 48, Mansfield, Texas, a real estate agent and investment consultant, was sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud in connection with the sale and leaseback agreements in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, South Dakota, California, Oregon, and Wyoming.

Between 2006 and 2008 Brosnacand co-conspirator Samuel Pearson, 47, Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, admitted using a group of companies to buy Jiffy Lube stores, automotive service businesses, convenience store/gas stations, and other commercial properties, then selling them to investors in Pennsylvania and California. The investment properties included a Jiffy Lube store in Sayre, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

In pleading guilty, Brosnacadmitted arranging funding from banks and credit unions for investors to purchase the properties and then used other companies controlled by him and Pearson to lease and operate the properties for investors. Brosnacalso admitted that he and Pearson provided investors and lenders with false and fraudulent financial information concerning the investment properties which induced loans and investments totaling approximately $19 million. In the plea agreement, Brosnacagreed that he received approximately $2.4 million in commissions and consulting fees from the sales of the properties.

Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Brosnacto five years in prison, followed by a period of three years’ supervised release, and a special assessment of $100, and ordered Brosnacto pay to victim investors and lenders restitution totaling $2,409,924.04 representing the commissions and consulting fees that he received as a result of the offense. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the advisory imprisonment range was 60 months, which is also the maximum statutory term of imprisonment.

Pearson, operator of Peanut Oil, was charged separately with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in a criminal information filed in March 2011 and pled guilty in April 2011 pursuant to a plea agreement. He is awaiting sentencing before Senior U.S. District Court Judge William C. Caldwell.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George J. Rocktashel.

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